The UK’s Direct Debit and Direct Credit schemes have proved phenomenally successful in recent years, with half of the population stating the Direct Debit as their preferred payment method and over 90%[1] of the UK workforce paid via Direct Credit. The rapid growth of remote banking services, and in particular Internet bill payments, has further driven the schemes’ popularity.
At present, when creating a Direct Debit or Direct Credit, most originators undertake a level of Modulus Checking to validate the format of a customer’s bank account details at the point of data capture. However, current rule-based validation technologies are limited in the efficiencies they can deliver because they cannot check that an account exists or that it belongs to the person seeking to make or receive funds.
As a result, each year in the UK 2% of Direct Debits and Direct Credits fail or are applied to incorrect or inappropriate accounts. In addition, there is an unknown volume of Direct Debit and Direct Credit fraud, believed to be on the increase since the introduction of Chip and PIN, which has strengthened security for Credit Card and Debit Card transactions. Aware of weaknesses in the Direct Debit and Direct Credit schemes, fraudsters, posing as legitimate customers, steal goods and services either by using someone else’s legitimate account details or by supplying fictitious account information that successfully bypasses modulus checks.
Bank Wizard Absolute from Experian Payments will reduce significantly both transaction errors and payment fraud by providing absolute certainty in real time that customer supplied bank account information is correct and relates to a specific individual and address.
Bank Wizard Absolute will help you to:
- control operational costs by reducing the cost of correcting failed and misapplied transactions
- reduce payment repair costs by confirming the existence of a bank account
- minimise the potential for payment fraud by confirming the link between an individual and their bank account
- improve customer service and reputation by promoting customer confidence through crediting and debiting payments first time
- increase efficiency in the customer acquisition process by checking customer status in real time.
“Bank Wizard Absolute will set a new standard for bank account validation in the UK,” says Jonathan Williams, Director of Communications and Product Strategy at Experian Payments. “It is the only bank data verification solution that can confirm the existence of a UK bank account, its status, and match it to the correct owner. By implementing Bank Wizard Absolute, organisations can dramatically improve profitability by virtually eliminating transaction failure and minimising payment fraud, in turn significantly improving corporate risk management and customer satisfaction levels.”
Bank Wizard Absolute is available as a service to existing Bank Wizard users on a per-usage licensing model.
01/10/07
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